International agenda
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The Belarusian parliament has set presidential elections for December 19. Observers discuss possible reasons under the decision in favor of an unexpectedly earlier date than the beginning of 2011. One guess is Lukashenka's desire to give the opposition less time. Another one is expectation of a new Russian gas price hike in coming winter, which would hurt the attitude to the current Belarusian adminsitration.

Lukashenko hinted that he would take part in the elections, but has so far made no official statement on the matter.

Mercosur (English: Southern Common Market) is a union between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency. The official languages are Portuguese and Spanish. It has been updated, amended, and changed many times since. It is now a full customs union. Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations are customs unions that are components of a continuing process of South American integration connected to the Union of South American Nations.

The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, Dayton Accords, Paris Protocol or Dayton-Paris Agreement, is the peace agreement reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in November 1995, and formally signed in Paris on December 14, 1995. These accords put an end to the three and a half year long war in Bosnia, one of the armed conflicts in the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government faces confidence votes in the lower and upper houses of parliament on December 14. His coalition is believed to hold a majority in the upper house and a minority in the lower house following the departure from the government of ministers loyal to his former ally Gianfranco Fini. Analysts say Italy will ultimately have to hold elections to end the row long before the government's mandate runs out in 2013 and possibly next year.

Kosovar parliamentary elections will be held in Kosovo on 12 December 2010 following a vote of no confidence in the government on 2 November.

The election was initially called on 15 October 2010, after President Fatmir Sejdiu resigned in September 2010 over accusations of breaching the constitution by continuing to hold his party leadership while president. However, the next day the Democratic League of Kosovo announced it would leave ruling coalition on 18 October 2010, which would require early elections to be held within 45 days of that date.[2] After the government failed a vote of no confidence on 2 November 2010, elections were set for 12 December 2010.[3][4] The vote was a result of Hashim Thaci's governing party supporting a no-confidence vote to trigger a snap elections.

This was to be the first election since Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence ,and the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on the legality of the declaration.

The EU and India will hold their 11th summit meeting in Brussels on 10 December 2010. The previous summit took place in Delhi in December 2009, and sought to further deepen relations between the two strategic partners in key areas of cooperation. It also aimed at enhancing dialogue and cooperation on issues of major global concern such as climate change, energy security and fight against terrorism, as well as prominent regional issues and bilateral trade.

In a joint letter sent to European Heads of State and Government before the recent G20 Summit in Seoul, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy made the following statement about the EU-Russia summit:

'[The summit] will be an important opportunity to strengthen EU/Russian engagement. We will follow up on earlier discussions on the modernisation of Russia not least by taking stock on our Partnership for Modernisation. The summit should focus, in particular, on achieving decisive progress on Russia's accession to the WTO, and on some our outstanding bilateral issues, such as trade, investment and cooperation in the energy sector. We should see how we can enhance the efficiency of crisis-management co-operation on the basis of a comprehensive approach to security issues, including frozen conflicts. We should also register progress on the visa dialogue entering a fully operational phase through the elaboration of Common Steps. As always, the summit will be an opportunity to openly address questions related to human rights and the rule of law'.

This year, the 5th edition of the European Development Days (EDD) will take place in Brussels on 6 and 7 December. Organised by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, EDD is the leading European forum where the questions and issues about international development cooperation are debated.

The scope and scale of EDD are growing every year, as links with new networks and new partners are made, and new platforms are created. The first four EDD events have established some important characteristics:

The XX Iberoamerican Summit of Heads of State and Government will take place on 3 and 4 December in Mar del Plata, Argentina. As already announced at the last summit in Portugal, the theme for this year will be ‘Education for inclusion’.

The Iberoamerican Summits of Heads of State and Government are annual meetings of the Heads of State and Government of the twenty two countries that participate as full members: Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The summit of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan Decembrer 1 - 2, 2010.

With 56 States drawn from Europe, Central Asia and America, the OSCE is the world's largest regional security organization, bringing comprehensive and co-operative security to a region that stretches from Vancouver to Vladivostok. It offers a forum for political negotiations and decision-making in the fields of early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation, and puts the political will of the participating States into practice through its unique network of field missions.

The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November 2010 to 10 December 2010.

The conference is officially referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 6th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (CMP 6) to the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, the two permanent subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC – the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) – are likely to hold their 33rd sessions. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference extended the mandates of the two temporary subsidiary bodies – the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) – so they are expected to meet as well.

The European Union and Africa will hold their 3rd Summit in Libya on 29-30 November 2010.

Under the overarching theme of "Investment, Economic Growth and Job Creation", Heads of States and Governments will address key issues, like peace and security, climate change, regional integration and private sector development, infrastructure and energy, agriculture and food security, migration.

The overarching theme ties together several topics and underlines different facets of the partnership, which will allow fostering joint positions in the upcoming key international negotiations.

A general election were supposed to be held in Haiti on 28 February 2010, but were postponed to an earthquake in the country. It will now be held on November 28. Ten senators and 99 deputies will be elected. Presidential elections will also be held.

In late August, Wyclef Jean, hip-hop star and former member of The Fugees, was disqualified, according to the Election Commission, because he have not meet the requirement of having lived in the country for a continuous period of five years. Another 15 candidates were also disqualified for different reasons.

A parliamentary election will be held in Moldova on 28 November 2010 after indirect presidential elections failed for the second time in late 2009.

After the constitutional referendum failed to meet the 33% turnout required to validate the results, the Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled that acting president of Moldova, Mihai Ghimpu had to dissolve the parliament and hold new elections. Ghimpu then announced that the parliament will be dissolved on 28 September 2010 and new elections will be held on 28 November 2010.

The Egyptian parliamentary elections will be held on November 28. The scheduled two-stage elections for determining its lower house membership. The elections formed the Eighth Assembly since the adoption of the 1971 Constitution.

At stake in this election:
444 seats in the Advisory Council (Majilis Al-Shura)

Egypt has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Advisory Council (Majilis Al-Shura) with 264 seats and the People's Assembly (Majlis Al-Sha'b) with 454 seats.

In the Advisory Council (Majilis Al-Shura), 176 members are elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve 6-year terms and 88 members are appointed by the president to serve 6-year terms. In the People's Assembly (Majlis Al-Sha'b), 444 members are elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve 5-year terms and 10 members are appointed by the president to serve 5-year terms.

The Union of South American Nations is an intergovernmental union integrating two existing customs unions: Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations, as part of a continuing process of South American integration. It is modeled on the European Union.

Through over 25 years of active engagement and collaboration in India, the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit hosted in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has emerged as the most important platform in Indian business, political and institutional circles for discussing the priorities for India's global, regional and industry agendas.

The APEC Japan 2010 summit will be the fourteenth annual gathering of APEC leaders. Leaders from all the member countries will meet at Yokohama, Japan in 13-14 November 2010. Japan last hosted an APEC summit at the 1995 summit.

A major focus of the meetings will be the so-called Bogar Goals, as 2010 is the target year for the developed members of the Pacific Rim to achieve to free trade and investment.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries (styled "Member Economies") to cooperate on regional trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation. APEC's objective is to enhance economic growth and prosperity in the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community. Members account for approximately 40% of the world's population, approximately 54% of world GDP and about 44% of world trade.

An annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, attended by the heads of government of all APEC members, except the Republic of China (Taiwan) which is represented under the name Chinese Taipei by a ministerial-level official. The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies, and a famous tradition involves the attending Leaders dressing in a national costume of the host member.

As the global economy moves into the path of recovery, the agenda for the G20 Seoul Summit will focus on implementation of the previous three summits agreements.

The agenda will include the G20 framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth, structural reform of the international financial institutions and reform of financial regulations. The Seoul Summit will also bring new perspectives and new issues to the G20, with a view to addressing the needs of the emerging and developing world as part of the effort to support sustainable growth globally.

The first parliamentary elections in two decades will be held in Mynmar (formerly Burma) on 7 November.

The human rights groups, U.S. and UK have warned that the vote will be illegitimate if the military kept its decision to ban the participation of thousands of imprisoned political opponents, including Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon has urged the Burmese authorities to hold free elections and release all prisoners so they can participate in the politics of the country.

The elections are going to be held a week before Aung San Suu Kyi, currently under house arrest, is released on November 13. In Myanmar, there are at least 2,000 political prisoners.

At stake in this election:
224 seats in the Nationalities Assembly (Amyotha Hluttaw)
440 seats in the People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw)

Elections to the United States Senate will be held on November 2, 2010, with at least 36 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate being contested. Thirty-four of these are to six-year terms, from January 3, 2011 to January 3, 2017. They will join Senate Class III, which traces its roots back to the Senators who served full six-year terms from March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1795. Elections to the United States House of Representatives as well as some state and local elections will occur on the same date.

The 2010 United States House of Representatives elections will be held on November 2, 2010, halfway through President Barack Obama's first term in office. Elections will be held for all 435 seats, representing the 50 U.S. states. Elections also will be held for the delegates from the District of Columbia and four of the five U.S. territories. The only seat in the United States House of Representatives not up for election is that of the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who serves a four-year term and will next face election in 2012.

Like all elections which occur midway through a mandate, these will be considered a referendum on Barack Obama’s presidency. The Republicans have eight fewer seats than the Democrats in the Senates and 79 in the House of Representatives, which means that they have a lot of work to do if they wish to regain control of Congress.

A presidential election is expected to be held in Côte d'Ivoire on 31 October 2010. Originally scheduled to be held in 2005, the election has been delayed numerous times due to issues arising from the Ivorian Civil War and difficulties involved in the organization and preparation of the election. A peace agreement between the government and the New Forces (former rebels) was signed in March 2007.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated ASEAN is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its aims include the acceleration of economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, the protection of the peace and stability of the region, and to provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.

The 2010 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa will take place on 26-28 October in Marrakech, in partnership with the Government of Morocco.

Under the theme "Purpose, Resilience and Prosperity", the meeting will gather the foremost leaders from business, government and civil society to renew the region’s growth and development strategies in the context of pressing global risks, including oil price volatility, water scarcity and migration.

The Economic and Financial Affairs Council is commonly known as the Ecofin Council, or simply 'Ecofin' and is composed of the Economics and Finance Ministers of the Member States, as well as Budget Ministers when budgetary issues are discussed. It meets once a month.

The Ecofin Council covers EU policy in a number of areas including: economic policy coordination, economic surveillance, monitoring of Member States' budgetary policy and public finances, the euro (legal, practical and international aspects), financial markets and capital movements and economic relations with third countries. It decides mainly by qualified majority, in consultation or codecision with the European Parliament, with the exception of fiscal matters which are decided by unanimity.

The Ecofin Council also prepares and adopts every year, together with the European Parliament, the budget of the European Union which is about 100 billion euros.

Early general elections will be held in Kyrgyzstan on 10 October 2010 following the 2010 Kyrgyzstani riots, during which the incumbent President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted by protestors and an interim government led by Roza Otunbayeva was formed. An election and reform plan was unveiled on 19 April 2010.

2010 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rate and the balance of payments. It is an organization formed with a stated objective of stabilizing international exchange rates and facilitating development through the enforcement of liberalising economic policies [3][4] on other countries as a condition for loans, restructuring or aid.[5] It also offers highly leveraged loans, mainly to poorer countries. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., United States.

European Union and Chinese officials have fundamentally agreed to enhance their strategic partnerships, and the newly achieved consensus may be written into the bilateral pact during the China-EU Summit.

The EU and China will hold their 13th Summit in Brussels. The last such meeting, which took place in November 2009 under the Swedish Presidency, focused on topics such as climate change, the financial and economic crisis, the bilateral relationship and international issues such as non-proliferation, Iran and Afghanistan.

During this summit, a Free Trade Aagreement (FTA) between the EU and the Republic of Korea could be sign.

The EU and South Korea are important trading partners, currently engaged in negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement. South Korea is the EU's eighth largest trade partner and the EU has become South Korea's second largest export destination. EU trade with South Korea exceeded €65 billion in 2008 and has enjoyed an annual average growth rate of 7.5% between 2004 and 2008.

The EU has been the single largest foreign investor in South Korea since 1962, and accounted for almost 45% of all FDI inflows into Korea in 2006. Nevertheless, EU companies have significant problems accessing and operating in the South Korean market due to stringent standards and testing requirements for products and services often creating barriers to trade. Both in its regular bilateral contacts with South Korea and through its ongoing FTA negotiations with Korea, the EU is seeking to improve this situation.

On 4-5 October 2010, he ASEM 8 Summit (Asia-Europe Meeting) will bring together heads of state and government from the 48 ASEM partners at the Royal Palace in Brussels. The subjects usually dealt with include political, financial and economic, and socio-cultural matters – these being the 3 ASEM pillars. The ASEM 8 Summit in Brussels aims to serve as a source of inspiration for the international community.

Since 1996, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has provided a forum for dialogue between Europeans and Asians on political, financial and economic and socio-cultural matters.In 2010, the ASEM will welcome 48 partners, including representatives from the new official entries of Australia, Russia and New Zealand.The ASEM stimulates cooperation, promotes commerce and investment in enterprise, and encourages exchange among citizens.

The 2010 Brazilian general election will be held on Sunday, October 3, 2010. All Chamber of Deputies seats and fifty-four of the seats in the Federal Senate will be contested in this election along with all 26 states (plus the Federal District) governorships and the state legislatures.

On 2010, Brazilian citizens elegible to vote will choose the successor of current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from the Workers' Party. If none of the candidates receives more than a half of the valid votes, a run-off will be held on October 30, 2010. According to the Constitution, the President is elected directly to a four-year term, with a limit of two terms. Lula is not elegible, since he was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.

The pre-candidates of the two major political groups are Dilma Rousseff (from the moderate left-wing, which includes the ruling Workers' Party, the Communist Party of Brazil, and the Democratic Movement Party, among others) and José Serra (from the centre-left, which includes the Social Democratic Party (center-left), the Democrats (centrist) and the Socialist People's Party) (center-left).

Bosnians will vote for members of the BiH presidency, central and entities' parliaments, president and vice-president of Republika Srspska, as well as new members of the assemblies of the Federation of BiH's ten cantons

Description of government structure:
Chief of State: Chairman of the Presidency Nebojsa RADMANOVIC
Head of Government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikola SPIRIC
Assembly: Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral Parliamentary Assembly (Skupstina) consisting of the House of Peoples (Dom Naroda) with 15 seats and the National House of Representatives (Predstavnicki Dom) with 42 seats.

The Presidency consists of three members who rotate every eight months. Nebojsa RADMANOVIC (Serb) became Chairman of the Presidency on November 6, 2006. The other members of the Presidency are Haris SILAJDZIC (Bosniak) and Zeljko KOMSIC (Croat). The three members of the Presidency (one Bosniak, one Croat, one Serb) are elected by popular vote to serve a 4-year term. The Chairmanship of the Presidency rotates every eight months among the three members.

Description of electoral system:
The Chairman of the Presidency is elected by indirect vote to serve a 4-year term.
In the House of Peoples (Dom Naroda) 15 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 4-year terms. In the National House of Representatives (Predstavnicki Dom) 42 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 4-year terms.

The seats are made up of 5 Bosniaks, 5 Croats, and 5 Serbs. Members are elected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation s House of Representatives and the Republika Srpska s National Assembly.

28 seats are allocated from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats from the Republika Srpska.

Unity: comprising the New Era Party, Civic Union and Society for Other Politics
Harmony Centre: formed by the Social Democratic Party "Harmony", Socialist Party of Latvia and the Daugavpils City Party
For a Good Latvia: of the People's Party, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way and For a Good Latvia
Union of Greens and Farmers: consisting of the Latvian Farmers' Union and the Green Party of Latvia
National Alliance: of For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and All For Latvia!

At stake in this election:
100 seats in the Parliament (Saeima)
Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Valdis ZATLERS
Head of Government: Prime Minister Valdis DOMBROVSKIS
Assembly: Latvia has a unicameral Parliament (Saeima) with 100 seats.
Description of electoral system:
The President is indirectly elected by parliament to serve a 4-year term.
The Prime Minister is approved by the parliament after being nominated appointed by the President.
In the Parliament (Saeima) 100 members are elected through a flexible-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.

A strong relationship has evolved between the European Union and South Africa since the birth of South African democracy in 1994. This relationship is underpinned by the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) signed in 1999, which provides the legal basis for close relations between the EU and South Africa on trade, development, economic cooperation and political dialogue.

The significance of South Africa for the EU was consolidated with the establishment of a Strategic Partnership in 2007. The Strategic Partnership has two strands: enhanced political dialogue and cooperation on regional, African and world issues, and stronger cooperation in a number of economic, social and other areas.

The next parliamentary election in Venezuela will take place on 26 September 2010 to elect the 167 deputies to the National Assembly.

The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela set a congress of 772 members representing the 759 country's municipalities. These members were elected by the militants of the party in an election held on 15 November 2009. At this congress, beginning on 21 November 2009 and ending in March 2010, members will debate each weekend over the new standards of the party in which are included voting and selection method for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Primary elections are expected for the first half of 2010.

Meanwhile the opposition parties are planning to create the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (United Democratic Table) a coalition that will include all of the opposition parties which might select unique candidates for the upcoming elections.

The International Day of Peace was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 for “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace within and among all nations and people”.

Twenty years later, the General Assembly set 21 September as the date to observe the occasion annually as a “day of global ceasefire and non-violence… through education and public awareness and to cooperate in the establishment of a global ceasefire”.

This year, as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the 60th anniversary of UN peacekeeping, the Day offers an opportunity to spotlight the crucial relationship between peace and human rights, which are increasingly recognized as inseparable. In the aftermath of World War II, world leaders acknowledged that “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts” and have prevented the “advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy…freedom from fear and want”.

Today, we are still struggling to achieve this vision. Too many conflicts, from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to conflicts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Darfur, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cause unnecessary loss of life and have a devastating impact on the structures that maintain societies, such as education, health and justice systems and the maintenance of law and order.

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to boost progress towards the MDGs.

Elections in the Kingdom of Sweden are held every four years, and determine the makeup of the legislative bodies on the three levels of administrative division in the country. At the highest level, these elections determine the allocation of seats in the Riksdag, the national legislative body of Sweden. Elections to the 21 county councils (landsting) and 290 municipal assemblies (kommunfullmäktige) are held concurrently with the legislative elections on the third Sunday of September, and use roughly the same electoral system.

A presidential election was held in Guinea on 27 June, with a second round to be held on 14 August 2010 (delayed from 18 July 2010). This election is Guinea's first general multi-party presidential election since independence from France. It followed months of tension and unrest after a coup and an attempted assassination of the junta leader.

The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
In the People's National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale Populaire), 38 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 76 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.

The Bicentennial of Chile will take place on 18 September 2010. Its celebration commemorating the 200th anniversary of the commencement of the independence of Chile, began with the First National Governing Board on 18 September 1810, that after almost eight years, would transform Chile into a free and independent country. The celebration is for various activities and plans that have been preparing for years.

The next election of the members of the Wolesi Jirga is due on September 18, 2010.

Reflecting to the disputed previous presidential election, in December 2009, representatives of donor nations expressed worries and suggested that the polls should be postponed. Last January, the election was posponed from May to September.

On 23 June 2010, the full list of candidates was announced; 2,577 candidates filed to run, 405 of them women

During the year 2010, Mexico celebrates both the 200th anniversary of its Independence and 100th anniversary of its Revolution. The entire year has been proclaimed by President Felipe Calderón as "Año de la Patria", or "Year of the Nation". On 6 September 2009, Felipe Calderón lit the "Fuego Bicentenario" or Bicentennial Fire in front of the National Palace. This flame will travel all around Mexico during the next twelve months

The Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821) was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The Mexican War of Independence movement was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought independence from Spain. It started as an idealistic peasants rebellion against their colonial masters, but finally ended as an unlikely alliance between liberals and conservatives.

It can be said that the struggle for Mexican independence dates back to the decades after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, when Martín Cortés, son of Hernán Cortés and La Malinche, led a revolt against the Spanish colonial government in order to eliminate the issues of oppression and privileges for the conquistadors.

After the abortive Conspiracy of the Machetes in 1799, the War of Independence led by the Mexican-born Spaniards became a reality. The movement for independence was far from gaining unanimous support among Mexicans, who became divided between independentists, autonomists and royalists.

The European Council will discuss, in the presence of foreign ministers, the EU's relations with its strategic partners, in particular with emerging countries in Asia, in the context of bilateral summits that will be held in the autumn, as well as the forthcoming G20 summit in Seoul, in November. The European Council may adopt conclusions setting guidelines for future work in this field.

The President of the European Council will report on progress achieved in the Task Force on the strengthening of economic governance, set up at the request of the European Council in March.

European Council meetings are chaired by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council.

The sixty-fifth ordinary session will open on Tuesday, 14 September 2010, at 3 p.m.

20-22 September: Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (see also the Organization of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the 65th session of the General Assembly).
22 September: High-level meeting of the General Assembly as a contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity

The General Debate will take place from 23-25 September and 27-30 September

On 11 June 2010, the General Assembly elected, by acclamation, His Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss of Switzerland as President of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly.

A constitutional referendum on a number of changes to the constitution will be held in Turkey on 12 September 2010, although it had initially been expected for July 2010.

The changes, which relate to the role of the judiciary and the military, were passed in parliament in late April and early May 2010 with over 336 votes, below the two-thirds majority of 367 votes needed to pass them directly, but enough to send them to a referendum within sixty days after Turkey Abdullah Gül signs the law. A constitutional change to make it more difficult for the Supreme Court to dissolve parties failed to pass.

Gül signed the law on 13 May 2010.

A poll from early April 2010 saw 50.6% in favour and 39.2% opposed to the changes.

The Moldovan referendum of 2010 will be a nationwide referendum in Moldova on whether or not the country should amend the Constitution of Moldova to return to direct popular election of president instead of 3/5 of total number of seats parliament vote as it is now. The referendum is going to be held on September 5, and if it is successful, presidential elections would be held at the same time as parliamentary elections in November 2010.

The Secretary of State has confirmed that United States will resume negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis suspended since December 2008. The planned meeting is the result of indirect talks sponsored by the U.S. over the last three months.

Hillary Clinton has said that the White House has invited the Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington to resume talks, hoping to reach agreement within a year . Both leaders will arrive the day before to meet with Barack Obama.

The head of U.S. diplomacy, expressed confidence that these negotiations "after the failed Oslo process in 1993, Camp David, in 2000, the Roadmap, in 2003, and Annapolis, in 2007 - are final and lead, within a year, an agreement for a Palestinian state.

The next Australian federal election will elect members of the 43rd Parliament of Australia and will be held on Saturday 21 August 2010, in which 14 million Australians are enrolled to vote. The opposition centre-right Liberal/National Coalition led by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will be the main challenger to the incumbent centre-left Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

The United Nations will convene an Extraordinary Session of its General Assembly, in order to discuss the emergency humanitarian situation in Pakistan and further efforts to help millions of people in danger because of the floods.

Since Belgium currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Steven Vanackere will address the Assembly in the name of the EU. He will do so in consultation with High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ European Commission Vice President, Catherine Ashton and with the Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva.

A constitutional referendum will be held in Kenya on August 4, 2010 to approve or disapprove the new proposed constitution passed by parliament on April 1, 2010. The new constitution is seen as a vital step to avoid a repetition of the violent outbursts after the 2007 presidential election.

The High Presidential Council for the Bicentenary of the Independence of Colombia aims to "advise the National Government on matters related to the conclusion of cooperation agreements and educational and cultural, national and international, aimed at ensuring the development of programs and activities occasion of the Bicentennial of Independence ".

The Ministry shall formulate, coordinate with the ministries of Culture, Foreign Affairs, Education, Coldeportes, local authorities and agencies, "the recommendations it deems appropriate in respect of agreements for economic cooperation and social development plans and programs for the Bicentennial celebration.

Also coordinate the preparation and conduct of competitions and events commemorating the bicentenary to be commemorated on 20 July 2010, according to the instructions of the President of the Republic.

The 22nd Elections to the House of Councillors for the upper house of the legislature of Japan will be held on July 11, 2010. In the last election in 2007, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost its majority to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which managed to gain the largest margin since its formation in 1996. The LDP's coalition partner New Komeito Party lost 3 of its twelve seats.

On 11 June 2008, a non-binding censure motion was passed by parliament's opposition-controlled House of Councillors against then Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. Filed by the DPJ and two other parties, it was the first censure motion against a prime minister under Japan's post-war constitution

The liberal right-wing candidate, Bronislaw Komorowski, and his hardline rival Jaroslaw Kaczynski, twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczynski, will meet again for the Polish presidency on July 4.

Belgium assumes the presidency of the European Council until december 31, 2011.

Belgium's final EU presidency programme was formally adopted by the prime minister's cabinet and Belgium's constituent regions at a meeting on 16 June.

Socio-economic issues: Re-establish growth by tackling the ongoing economic crisis, with a package of measures to increase the surveillance of financial markets; promote green jobs, innovation and the transition to a 'green knowledge economy'.
Social issues: Promote social cohesion by fighting poverty, which Prime Minister Yves Leterme said "is very important in our eyes"; Progressing on services of general interest; Stressing the EU's value-added in terms of health and ageing, including pension reform.
Environment and climate change: Switching to a green economy; Preparing the December UN climate conference in Cancún; Adjusting taxation to fit other EU objectives on employment, energy, transport and emissions reduction.
Justice and home affairs: Implementing the so-called Stockholm Programme launched in 2009 under the Swedish Presidency; Establish mutual recognition of court rulings.
External relations: Continuing with the EU's enlargement policy and putting in place the EU's new diplomatic corps, the European External Action Service (EEAS).

The programme is expected to remain unchanged even if a new government comes to power during the presidency, because it is the result of a lengthy negotiation process between the federal state, the country's constituent regions and political parties at the different levels of government.

An indirect presidential election will be held in Germany on 30 June following the surprise resignation of Horst Köhler as President of Germany on 31 May 2010. The governing coalition comprising the Christian Democratic Union, Christian Social Union of Bavaria and Free Democratic Party will have 645 to 647 of the 1244 seats in the Federal Convention, giving it a clear majority.

On 3 June 2010, Christian Wulff (CDU), the incumbent Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, was nominated as the candidate of the government parties (CDU, CSU, FDP)[3]. Prior to this, federal minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) had been considered the front-runner for the nomination of the government parties.

The opposition, the Social Democratic Party and The Greens, nominated non-partisan Joachim Gauck, an anti-communist activist from East Germany and the first Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, as their presidential candidate the same day.

An indirect presidential election will be held in Hungary on 29 June 2010. Nominations are due by midday of 25 June 2010; the Hungarian Socialist Party nominated university lecturer and Hungarian ambassador to Thailand András Balogh on 6 June 2010.

A presidential election will be held in Burundi on 28 June, with a second round on 26 July, if necessary. Unlike the 2005 election, it will be a direct election by all voters, not by parliament. In early March 2010, the run-up to the election was called "explosive" due to a combination of demobilized former combatants and violence between youth activists in the ruling CNDD-FDD and opposition FRODEBU.

On 1 June 2010, five opposition candidates, including Agathon Rwasa (considered the strongest contender against the incumbent), withdrew from the election, alleging that the government intended to rig it.

A presidential election will be held in Guinea on 27 June and 18 July 2010. It was originally scheduled to held on 13 December 2009 (with a run-off on 27 December 2009, if necessary) following the 2008 Guinean coup d'état. Civilian and political groups later proposed to hold them in December after legislative elections in October 2009. The government agreed to set the election date for 13 and 27 December in late March 2009, but it was then again delayed until 31 January 2010.

While junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara had initially stated he would not run in the election, he declared on 16 April 2009 that he, like every citizen, had the right to stand in the election. On 10 May 2009, however, he stated again that neither he nor any of the other officers involved would stand in the election. Despite this vow, supporters of Camara held a rally in August 2009 to call for him to take off his uniform and run in the elections. The United States feels that he must abstain from running in the election to ensure a free and fair election.

After Camara was shot in early December 2009 and Konaté took over as the country's leader, an agreement was reached on 16 January 2010 which stipulated that Camara would remain out of the country (where he had been treated for his gunshort wounds), that a transitional government would be formed and that presidential elections would be held within six months.

A constitutional referendum will be held in Kyrgyzstan on 27 June to reduce presidential powers and strengthen democracy in the wake of the 2010 Kyrgyzstani riots, during which the incumbent President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted by protestors and an interim government led by Roza Otunbayeva was formed.

The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (known as the G-20 and also the G20 or Group of Twenty) is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 economies: 19 countries, plus the European Union. The current chair country of the G-20 is South Korea.

Collectively, the G-20 economies comprise 85%[4] of global gross national product, 80% of world trade (including EU intra-trade) and two-thirds of the world population.

The G-20 is a forum for cooperation and consultation on matters pertaining to the international financial system. It studies, reviews, and promotes discussion among key industrial and emerging market countries of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability, and seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.

With the G-20 growing in stature since the 2008 Washington summit, its leaders announced on September 25, 2009, that the group will replace the G8 as the main economic council of wealthy nations.

Heads of states of G-20 members meet biannually at the G-20 Summit. The nest 2010 G-20 Summit is scheduled to be held in Seoul on November 11-13.

The G-20 operates without a permanent secretariat or staff. The chair rotates annually among the members and is selected from a different regional grouping of countries. The chair is part of a revolving three-member management group of past, present and future chairs referred to as the Troika. The incumbent chair establishes a temporary secretariat for the duration of its term, which coordinates the group's work and organizes its meetings. The role of the Troika is to ensure continuity in the G-20's work and management across host years.

The 36th G-8 summit is to be held in Canada in June 25-26, 2010. The meeting will take place in Muskoka region. It will be the fifth G8 Summit hosted by Canada since 1976.

The G-8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders. The event has become an occasion for a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, activists and civic groups to congregate and discuss a multitude of issues.

The pro-government candidate Juan Manuel Santos (PMU) beat his main rival, Antanas Mockus (PV) by a wide margin to win the elections on 30 May, defying all the predictions that foresaw a tie between the two candidates.

Santos received 46.6% of the votes while Mockus obtained 21.5%. The two candidates will face each other again in the second round on 20 June.

The ultra-conservative Polish politician Jaroslaw Kaczynski, twin brother of the deceased president Lech Kaczynski, will stand for the elections called on June 20, seeking to succeed his brother, who died on April 11 in a aeroplane crash.

The sudden participation of Jaroslaw Kaczynski in the battle for the presidency has provoked doubts about who the eventual winner will be, although polls indicate that the leader of the Law and Justice party (conservative right, Eurosceptic and ultra-nationalist) will have to work hard to catch up with the current favourite.

All signs indicate that until now the clear favourite is the President of Parliament,Bronislaw Komorowski, of the Civic Platform (liberal right and pro-European). This party has been in government since the end of 2007, when then-Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski lost the parliamentary elections.

At the second summit of the year, the EU will analyse the Commission’s report on exit strategies for the global financial crisis.

During the meeting, European leaders should define the so-called Strategy 2020, to mark the EU's economic course of this decade. This is one of the main priorities of the Spanish presidency, debate that has been relegated in recent weeks due to the financial rescue plan for Greece.

Belgium will go to the polls on June 13 in an early election. The new government will be responsible for carrying out a substantial state reform, which will not be easy given the growth of nationalist and secessionist supporters in Flanders.

A survey made public in early May placed the separatists of N-VA (New Flemish Alliance) at the top of the voting intentions list. With 22.9% of the votes, it would replace the CDV (Flemish Christian Democrats), the party of resigning Prime Minister Yves Leterme.

A parliamentary election will be held in Slovakia on June 12, 2010. In the elections 18 parties will be running -8 parties in Slovakia stand a chance of winning seats in parliament in the elections-. If the Central Election Commission doesn’t exclude any of the candidates, a total of 2,401 candidates would compete for parliamentary seats.

Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Ivan GASPAROVIC
Head of Government: Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA
Assembly: Slovakia has a unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic (Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky) with 150 seats.

Description of electoral system:
The President is elected by direct popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
In the National Council of the Slovak Republic (Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky) 150 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.

Population:
Population: 5,439,448 (July 2006 est.)

Legislative branch:
Unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats. Members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)

On 19 February, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende officially dissolved the government and called early elections, rather than waiting until the beginning of 2011.

Since February 2007, Christian Democrat Balkenende has been leading a coalition government made up of his party (CDA), the labour party PvdA and the Calvinists of the CU.

The decline of Balkenende’s Executive occurred when the labour ministers withdrew from the coalition following a prolonged disagreement over whether or not Dutch troops should stay in Afghanistan for a further year. The labour representatives were not in favour of extending the mission, not even in order to train Afghan soldiers as NATO suggested.

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

Commemorated yearly on 5 June, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The day's agenda is to:

Give a human face to environmental issues;
Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;
Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

Elections for the Shura Council, the upper house of the Egyptian parliament, will be held in Egypt on June 1, 2010. From a total of 264 seats 88 are up for election every three years, another 44 are appointed by the president.

Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK
Head of Government: Prime Minister Ahmed NAZIF
Assembly: Egypt has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Advisory Council (Majilis Al-Shura) with 264 seats and the People's Assembly (Majlis Al-Sha'b) with 454 seats.

The Foreign Affairs Council discussed, last 10th of May, preparations for the 25th EU-Russia summit to be held in Rostov-on-Don on 31 May and 1 June.

Ministers focused in particular on priorities for the Partnership for Modernisation, proposed at the Stockholm Summit in November. In this respect the EU will advocate a broad approach encompassing the rule of law and citizens' rights. The Council also discussed the issue of visas, on which the EU is committed to the shared long-term objective of visa-free travel following a step-by-step approach focusing on substance. The global economic crisis, climate change and energy issues, the question of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as well as regional and international issues will also be addressed at the summit.

The 2010 presidential election in Colombia for the period 2010–2014 is currently scheduled for 30 May 2010, after the elections of senators and representatives. If no candidate receives an absolute majority share of the votes, a second round will be held in June.

The aspiring candidates should obtain the backing of a political party or collect a significant amount of signatures in order to put themselves forward. President Álvaro Uribe is not allowed to aspire to a new mandate.

The next Czech legislative election will take place on 28–29 May 2010. They were expected to take place some time before the end 2009 (originally set for 9–10 October 2009) to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. Incumbent PM Mirek Topolánek had lost a no-confidence vote on 24 March 2009. After four failed earlier attempts, the opposition ČSSD party succeeded in leading the lower house of the Czech parliament to a no confidence vote in Topolánek's government. The measure passed with 101 votes to 96, largely due to several members of Topolánek's own party voting with the opposition.

On 25 May 2010 Argentina will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the revolution that set it on the road to independence (the May Revolution).

The government has created the Permanent Commission of the Bicentenary of the May Revolution 1810–2010 which has the task of undertaking work, setting targets and promoting citizens’ awareness of the bicentenary.

Senior officials and experts will meet on 15 and 16 May. On Monday, 17 May, Heads of State and Government will hold subregional meetings in EU troika format, EU-CARIFORUM, EU-CHILE and EU-MERCOSUR, as well as the preparatory meeting involving EU-LAC Foreign Affairs Ministers. Heads of State and Government will meet on Tuesday, 18 May at the EU-LAC summit. On Wednesday 19, the EU-Andean Community (CAN) and EU-Central America subregional meetings will be held.

The next EU-LAC Summit will take place on 18 May 2010 in Madrid, preceded by a Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 17 May. The theme of the Summit will be: “Towards a new stage in the bi-regional partnership: Innovation and Technology for sustainable development and social inclusion”. The Madrid Summit aims to bring together not only Heads of State and Governments from Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe, but also important non-state actors.

Senior officials and experts will meet on 15 and 16 May. On Monday, 17 May, Heads of State and Government will hold subregional meetings in EU troika format, EU-CARIFORUM, EU-CHILE and EU-MERCOSUR, as well as the preparatory meeting involving EU-LAC Foreign Affairs Ministers. Heads of State and Government will meet on Tuesday, 18 May at the EU-LAC summit. On Wednesday 19, the EU-Andean Community (CAN) and EU-Central America subregional meetings will be held.

Senior officials and experts will meet on 15 and 16 May. On Monday, 17 May, Heads of State and Government will hold subregional meetings in EU troika format, EU-CARIFORUM, EU-CHILE and EU-MERCOSUR, as well as the preparatory meeting involving EU-LAC Foreign Affairs Ministers. Heads of State and Government will meet on Tuesday, 18 May at the EU-LAC summit. On Wednesday 19, the EU-Andean Community (CAN) and EU-Central America subregional meetings will be held.

Senior officials and experts will meet on 15 and 16 May. On Monday, 17 May, Heads of State and Government will hold subregional meetings in EU troika format, EU-CARIFORUM, EU-CHILE and EU-MERCOSUR, as well as the preparatory meeting involving EU-LAC Foreign Affairs Ministers. Heads of State and Government will meet on Tuesday, 18 May at the EU-LAC summit. On Wednesday 19, the EU-Andean Community (CAN) and EU-Central America subregional meetings will be held.

Mexico was the first Latin American country to sign a partnership agreement with the EU (in 1997).The Agreement, called the EU-Mexico Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement, entered into force in 2000 and has considerably strengthened bilateral relations between the EU and Mexico.

Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections in the Philippines are scheduled to be held on May 10, 2010. The elected president will become the 15th President of the Philippines, succeeding President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is barred from seeking re-election due to term restrictions. If current Vice-President Noli de Castro should not retake office, his successor will be the 15th Vice President of the Philippines. The legislators elected in the 2010 elections will join the senators of the 2007 elections and will comprise the 15th Congress of the Philippines.

The 2010 election will be administered by the Commission on Elections in compliance with the Republic Act No. 9369,[1] also known as Amended Computerization Act of 2007. It will be the first national computerized election in the history of the Philippines.

Local elections are also to be held in all provinces, cities and municipalities.

During the Spanish presidency of the EU of 27 (o simplemente the EU), the European Civic Days 2010 'For a European social citizenship' are a perfect opportunity for reflection, drawing conclusions and dialogue with national and European institutions aimed at representatives of the millions of Europeans who freely come together in special interest groups.

On 7, 8 and 9 May 2010, the city of Malaga will host 650 people from all corners of the European Union, drawn together with one main objective: to bring citizens closer to the European Union’s construction process. The promoters of this meeting, a group of 13 Spanish organisations and social platforms, believe that they will reach this goal through the following efforts:

• The promotion of a participatory and active European social citizenship
• Strengthening the role of NGOs as a means of integration and social cohesion
• Encouraging these entities to participate actively in the definition, implementation and evaluation of public policies within the Union.

The British Prime Minister, Labour MP Gordon Brown, has called a general election for 6 May. Local elections will also take place on the same day. This will be the closest run election since 1992, when John Major was elected despite predictions to the contrary, receiving the most votes obtained by the Conservative party since Margaret Thatcher came into power in 1979.

Description of government structure:
Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II
Head of Government: Prime Minister James Gordon BROWN
Assembly: United Kingdom has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the the House of Lords with 693 seats and the the House of Commons with 646 seats.

Description of electoral system:
The Queen is inherited.
The Prime Minister is elected to serve a 5-year term.
In the the House of Lords, 526 members are appointed by the monarch and 92 members are inherited *. In the the House of Commons 659 members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.**

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT or NNPT) is a treaty to limit the spread (proliferation) of nuclear weapons. The treaty came into force on 5 March 1970 and currently there are 189 states party to the treaty, five of which are recognized as nuclear weapon states: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China (also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council).

Four non-parties to the treaty are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons. India, Pakistan and North Korea have openly tested and declared that they possess nuclear weapons, while Israel has had a policy of opacity regarding its own nuclear weapons program. North Korea acceded to the treaty, violated it, and withdrew from it in 2003.

The treaty was proposed by Ireland and Finland and they were the first to sign.

The NPT consists of a preamble and eleven articles. Although the concept of "pillars" appears nowhere in the NPT, the treaty is nevertheless sometimes interpreted as a three pillar system, with an implicit balance among them: non-proliferation, disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology.

The treaty is reviewed each five years in meetings called Review Conferences of the Parties to the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In addition, Sessions of the Preparatory Committee for the Review Conference take place on the intermediate years. Simultaneously, many events organized by independent institutions, groups of experts, think tanks and NGO's take place worldwide in order to provide reports and recommendations that compliment the Preparatory Committees.

Even though the treaty was originally conceived with a limited duration of 25 years, the signing parties decided by consensus to extend the treaty indefinitely and without conditions during the Review Conference in New York City on May 11, 1995.

The Union of South American Nations is an intergovernmental union integrating two existing customs unions: Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations, as part of a continuing process of South American integration. It is modeled on the European Union.

The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on May 23, 2008, at the Third Summit of Heads of State, held in Brasília, Brazil, but not as of yet ratified by the required ninth nation. According to the Constitutive Treaty, the Union's headquarters will be located in Quito, Ecuador. The South American Parliament will be located in Cochabamba, Bolivia, while the headquarters of its bank, the Bank of the South (Dutch: Bank van het Zuiden, Portuguese: Banco do Sul, Spanish: Banco del Sur), will be located in Caracas, Venezuela. The Union's former designation, the South American Community of Nations, was dropped at the First South American Energy Summit on April 16, 2007.

The Alliance of Civilisations is a worldwide initiative which aims to have a local application, close to the citizens themselves. Its objective is to ‘win hearts and minds’, proposing concrete projects and ways of moving forward when it comes to respect, tolerance and unity; the very essence of the United Nations.

With this objective, its development is taking place on different levels: on the international level through the Action Plans and the Alliance’s Regional Strategies, on the national level through the National Plans for the Alliance of Civilisations in the member countries; and at local level through the direct involvement of civil society.

Incumbent President Heinz Fischer (independent, retired member of Social Democratic Party of Austria) announced on November 23, 2009 that he will seek a second term.

The FPÖ announced in June 2009 that it would definitely field a candidate "to prevent Fischer['s reelection]" (possible candidates mentioned include Norbert Steger, Siegfried Dillersberger, Norbert Gugerbauer, Dieter Böhmdorfer and Wilhelm Brauneder). On 28 February 2010, Strache announced in the Kronen Zeitung that the FPÖ would nominate Barbara Rosenkranz as its presidential candidate.

The Presidential Commission for the Commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Independence of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was created in order to schedule the acts concerning the celebration of Independence, which have been carried out since 19 April 2009 and that extended until 5 July 2011.

In economics, BRIC (typically rendered as "the BRICs" or "the BRIC countries") is a grouping acronym that refers to the related economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

The acronym was prominently used by Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs in 2001. According to a paper published in 2005, Mexico and South Korea are the only other countries comparable to the BRICs, but their economies were excluded initially because they were considered already more developed. Goldman Sachs argued that, since they are developing rapidly, by 2050 the combined economies of the BRICs could eclipse the combined economies of the current richest countries of the world. The four countries, combined, currently account for more than a quarter of the world's land area and more than 40% of the world's population.

U.S. President Barack Obama has officially invited Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington April 12-13 with the aim of fighting against the threat of nuclear terrorism. This would be Zapatero’s second visit to Washington since he met with Obama at the White House last October

The White House has invited about 40 heads of state and government to the summit. The aim of the meetings, as proposed by the White House, is to guarantee the security of “vulnerable” nuclear material over the next four years, a task that requires examining existing cooperation measures and providing assistance to countries that may require it.

Sudan to hold 1st multi-party polls in 24 years. Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in Sudan 11 -13th April to elect the President of Sudan and the National Assembly of Sudan. The election brings to the end the transitional period which began when the decades-long Second Sudanese Civil War ended in 2005.

In January, President Omar Hassan Al Bashir resigned as supreme commander of the Armed Forces (he held since 1989 to be a candidate). Al Bashir was born in 1944 and served as army chief after coup staged on 30 June 1989 against President Sadek al-Mahdi.

Since July 14, 2008 is considered a fugitive from international justice after the International Criminal Court charged him with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Sudanese region of Darfur, which has killed over 300,000 people.

On 1 April, Yasir Arman, presidential candidate for the People's Liberation Movement in Sudan (SPLM), the main opposition party in the South and al-Bashir oponent, announced his abandonment of the presidential race, believing that a massive electoral fraud will occur, especially in the Darfur region.

The next parliamentary election in Hungary will be held on 11 April and 25 April 2010. This will be the sixth free elections after the end of communism. The 386 members of parliament are to be elected in a combined system of party lists and electoral constituencies.

As polls showed both MDF and SzDSz would be unlikely to make it into parliament on their own, they have agreed to a limited electoral cooperation

On April 8 in Prague, the United States and Russia will sign a new a new nuclear disarmament agreement, replacing the START treaty, which expired in December 2009. (no tiene que ser se venció en español?)

Last year in the Czech capital, US president Barack Obama unveiled an ambitious initiative aiming to eradicate the world’s nuclear arsenals. Obama showed his willingness to work towards achieving a world without nuclear weapons, which would include the ratification in Washington of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the holding of a summit against the proliferation of atomic weapons.

The new START agreement, which follows the lines of the historical pact established between the two superpowers in 1991, is the first fruit that Obama’s vision has borne.

An international conference for donors in favour of the reconstruction of Haiti, devastated by an earthquake in January, will take place on 31 March at UN headquarters.

The members of the Security Council have expressed their support for the reconstruction efforts and have reaffirmed the leadership of René Préval's government.

According to the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, there are currently around half a million people in need of permanent refuge. Of the 1.441 million dollars requested from the international community for immediate assistance and the rebuilding of the country, approximately 600 million have been obtained.

A big round of regional elections in Italy will take place on 28–29 March in 13 regions out of 20, including nine of the ten largest ones: Lombardy, Campania, Veneto, Lazio, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Apulia, Tuscany and Calabria.

The elections will turn out as a big competition between two rival coalitions built around the two major parties: The People of Freedom (PdL) of Silvio Berlusconi and the Democratic Party (PD) led by Pier Luigi Bersani. The third largest party in Italy, Lega Nord (whose main regional sections, Liga Veneta, Lega Lombarda and Lega Piemont play a big role in Veneto, Lombardy and Piedmont, respectively) will support joint candidates with the PdL in Northern and Central Italy, while the PD will run in coalition with Italy of Values in most regions. The Union of the Centre may form an alliance either with the PdL and the PD, depending on the regions. Minor parties of the left and the right will took part to the coalitions accordingly to their political position.

At the first regular summit of the year, the European Council is planning to present the ‘EU Strategy for 2020’, which will provide a point of reference in the attempt to recover the competitive edge and growth potential of the 27.

As a stopover between the Accra High-Level Forum (2008) and the Seoul High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, the High-Level Event on South-South cooperation and Capacity Development will gather 400 policy makers from partner countries, multilateral organisations and donors. They will discuss how developing countries can take a stronger stake in global development policies and especially in the evolving aid effectiveness agenda by exploring the advantages and challenges of South-South cooperation and Capacity Development.

The Bank provides more financing to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other government-owned regional financial institution.

The IDB, established in 1959 to support the process of economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean, is the main source of multilateral financing in the region. The IDB Group provides solutions to development challenges by partnering with governments, companies and civil society organizations, thus reaching its clients ranging from central governments to city authorities and businesses

The IDB lends money and provides grants. With a triple-A rating, the Bank borrows in international markets at competitive rates. Hence, it can structure loans at competitive conditions for its clients in its 26 borrowing member countries.

In addition, it also offers research, advice and technical assistance to support key areas like education, poverty reduction and agriculture. The Bank is also active on cross-border issues like trade, infrastructure and energy.

OPEC's mission is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital to those investing in the petroleum industry.

The battle against terrorism requires the mobilisation of all citizens to guarantee freedom and security for all. Each year on 11 March, the European Union dedicates a Memorial Day expressing its solidarity to all victims of Terrorism.

The European Parliament decided to designate this day as a consequence of the terrorist attacks in Spain (2004) and the UK (2005).

Over the past few years South-South Cooperation (SSC) has undergone a notable revival since it began some decades ago. This process has coincided with changes in traditional aid donors, including new approaches in support to middle income countries. One result of both phenomena is that a number of Southern partner countries are increasing their collaboration with donors to support other developing countries through schemes which include triangular cooperation.

A few donors such as Japan have engaged in triangular cooperation for many years, and several European countries have developed some experience recently. However, this modality has yet to become fully consolidated in the European Union.

One of the reasons for this situation is that it remains a conceptually unclear concept. In addition, triangular cooperation has significant –not always positive— implications for efforts to advance in the aid effectiveness agenda.

Objectives and focus of the workshop

In this context, this one-day workshop on 8 March 2010 aims to provide a venue for an initial exchange of information and viewpoints on experiences of Member states and the Commission in triangular cooperation and implications for aid effectiveness efforts.

The workshop is organized by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in the framework of the Practitioners’ Network for European Development Cooperation, a network which seeks to promote exchange on issues of practical interest between its members and other organizations from across Europe.

A legislative election is planned in Iraq for 7 March 2010. The election will decide the 325 members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq who will then elect the Prime Minister of Iraq and the President of Iraq. Also, a referendum on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and Iraq is due to be held together with the parliamentary elections.

The last parliamentary vote in Iraq, on December 15, 2005, was largely boycotted by Sunni Arabs, resulting in an easy victory for Shiite parties which formed a ruling coalition under the United Iraqi Alliance.

unicameral Council of Representatives (consisting of 275 members elected by a closed-list, proportional representation system)

Granada will host the first EU–Morocco summit on 6 and 7 March (in "troika" format: current president, European Council and European Commission), during Spain’s presidency at the head of the 27 EU countries.

Spain is currently the second largest investor in Morocco, where over 500 Spanish companies operate, and is first in terms of cooperation, providing 130 million Euros’ worth of aid during 2008, and running some 60 NGOs in the country.

Immigration is one of the main issues to be discussed by the various governments. The European Union wants illegal immigration from Morocco to continue to decline, even though the agreed number of workers may fall.

Over a year ago the EU introduced a series of measures designed to strengthen the partnership with Morocco, including an advanced statute. These measures concern cooperation in political and security matters; the preparation of an ambitious global free trade agreement; progressive integration of Morocco into a number of sectoral EU policies and a greater level of trade between EU countries and Morocco.

The aim of these measures is to support the process of modernisation and democratic transition undertaken by Morocco several years ago, for which the north African country is calling for greater European support. There are also plans to strengthen commercial relations through a comprehensive free trade agreement, which will cover new sectors.

The Rio Group (Spanish: Grupo de Río, Portuguese: Grupo do Rio) is an international organization of Latin American and some Caribbean states. It was created on 18 December 1986 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro by means of the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro, signed by Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela (the members of the Contadora Group and the Contadora Support Group).

To some extent it was perceived by some observers as an alternative body to the Organization of American States during the Cold War, since that body was dominated by the United States.[citation needed] The Rio Group does not have a secretariat or permanent body, and instead relies on yearly summits of heads of states.

Restoring economic growth and addressing structural problems in Europe's economy will be the focus of the informal meeting of heads of state and government held on Brussels, February 11. According to the European Council President Herman van Rompuy , the region needs a "new economic strategy," which should last until 2020.

The European Union is emerging from a deep recession, but unemployment is still rising. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, expects the EU economy will grow 0.7% in 2010 and 1.6% in 2011 after contracting by 4.1% in 2009.

The Costa Rica presidential elections of 2010 will be held on Sunday Feb. 7. The presidential term is from May 8, 2010 to May 8, 2014. The elections are overseen by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and relate to fifteenth electoral process taking place in the Central American country since the promulgation of the Constitution of Costa Rica, 1949.

Presidential candidates:

Oscar Lopez Arias (current member of the Parliament).
Otton Solis Fallas (economist, former minister and former deputy leader of the first opposition party).
Rolando Araya Monge (engineer, former minister, former deputy and international socialist leader).
Eugenio Trejos Benavides (rector of the Technological Institute of Costa Rica).
Walter Muñoz Céspedes (physician and former member).
Laura Chinchilla Miranda (political scientist, former minister, former deputy and former vice president).
Otto Guevara Guth (lawyer, former congressman).
Mayra Gonzalez Leon (lawyer, former mayor of Tibás).
Luis Fishman Zonzinski (lawyer, former minister, former deputy and former vice president).

During this process deputies to the legislative assembly and council members in municipal councils will be elected.

Viktor Yanukovych (35,3% of the votes) and Yulia Tymoshenko (with 25%) will face each other in the second round of the election to be held on February 7.

Incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko had won only about 5% of the votes. Turnout was 67 percent, official data showed. This compared to 75 percent in the first round of the 2004 poll. Official results will be released by the Central Election Commission (http://www.cvk.gov.ua/)

Analysts predict a slight advantage for Tymoshenko in the second (and final) round as she was more likely to attract voters from the other 16 candidates. Two candidates who came third and fourth, former central bank chief Sergey Tigipko (with ~13%) and former parliament speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said they would not come out in support of any candidate in the second round.

A presidential election will be held in Guinea on 31 January 2010. It was originally scheduled to held on 13 December 2009 (with a run-off on 27 December 2009, if necessary) following the 2008 Guinean coup d'état. Civilian and political groups later proposed to hold them in December after legislative elections in October 2009. The government agreed to set the election date for 13 and 27 December in late March 2009, but it was then again delayed until January 2010.

While junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara had initially stated he would not run in the election, he declared on 16 April 2009 that he, like every citizen, had the right to stand in the election. On 10 May 2009, however, he stated again that neither he nor any of the other officers involved would stand in the election. Despite this vow, supporters of Camara held a rally in August 2009 to call for him to take off his uniform and run in the elections. Both the United States and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, an international election support non-profit, feel that he must abstain from running in the election to ensure a free and fair election.

The African Union (abbreviated AU in English, and UA in its other official languages) is an intergovernmental organisation consisting of 53 African states.

Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.

The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During the February 2009 Union meeting headed by Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, it was resolved that the African Union Commission would become the African Union Authority.

The AU covers the entire continent except for Morocco, which opposes the membership of Western Sahara as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. However, Morocco has a special status within the AU and benefits from the services available to all AU states from the institutions of the AU, such as the African Development Bank. Moroccan delegates also participate at important AU functions, and negotiations continue to try to resolve the conflict with the Polisario Front in Tindouf, Algeria and parts of Western Sahara.

The International Conference on Afghanistan, which will take place in London, will debate the eventual withdrawal of the foreign military presence from Afghan territory and the political strategy to be followed during 2010 and subsequent years. The Secretary General of the UN and leaders of the more than 40 countries whose troops form part of the 100,000 strong international military presence in Afghanistan have been invited to the conference.

The World Economic Forum’s 40th Annual Meeting in 2010 will address this opportunity and, in preparation, the Forum has launched the Global Redesign Initiative, an unprecedented global multistakeholder dialogue to help establish processes and structures of global cooperation in the 21st century. The Initiative will provide the fresh, bottom-up rethinking necessary to develop principles and guidelines as well as concrete recommendations regarding structures of governance.

Gordon Brown has invited key international partners to a high level meeting to discuss how to counter radicalisation in Yemen. The Prime Minister said the international community must not deny Yemen the support it needs to tackle extremism following the failed bomb plot on a US-bound flight on Christmas day.

The Sri Lankan presidential election of 2010 will be held on January 26.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was elected president in 2005, will be the candidate of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance. A former commander of the Sri Lanka Army, General Sarath Fonseka will be his main opponent in the election. Fonseka has been endorsed by a number of main opposition parties, including the United National Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.

According to the Department of Elections more than 14 millon Sri Lankans will be eligible to vote in the election.

Candidates
Mahinda Rajapaksa
In November 2009, incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to terminate his six year term almost two years early, and seek a fresh mandate and a new six year term as president. The main reason for the early election was Rajapaksa's desire to take advantage of his increased popularity following the total defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and the end of the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War in May 2009.

Sarath Fonseka
As commander of the Sri Lanka Army from 2005-2009, General Sarath Fonseka was considered a national hero for orchestrating an end to the Sri Lankan Civil War. However following military victory, tensions between grew between President Rajapaksa and Fonseka, who later accused Rajapaksa of sidelining him after the end of the conflict. Fonseka eventually retired from the military in November 2009, and announced his candidacy two weeks later.

Minor candidates
3 candidates from minor political parties have expressed their desire to run in the election. They are Wickremabahu Karunaratna of the New Left Front, Wije Dias of the Socialist Equality Party and the Buddhist monk Ven. Battaramulle Seelaratna Thera of the Janasetha Peramuna.

For these presidential elections have been called 36 million voters. 18 candidates compete for a wide spectrum, from liberals to communists, nationalists through racial profiling. Given the difficulty of achieving over 50% of the vote required for victory, a runoff is expected on February 7.

Cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers selected by the prime minister; the only exceptions are the foreign and defense ministers, who are chosen by the president. Note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council. The NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Secretariat helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president.

Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); note - a special repeat runoff presidential election between Viktor YUSHCHENKO and Viktor YANUKOVYCH took place on 26 December 2004 after the earlier 21 November 2004 contest - won by YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant violations; under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1 January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the prime minister.

Following the elections on 13 December, the Chileans have been called to the polls again to decide whether the president will be either the leader of the "Coalición por el Cambio", Sebastian Piñera, or the ex-president (1994-2000) and Concert of Parties for Democracy’s (Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia) candidate, Eduardo Frei.

Piñera received 44.05% of votes in the first round, while Frei only scraped 29.6%. The other candidates, Marcos Enríquez-Ominami (independent) and Jorge Arrate (Together we Can/Juntos Podemos pact) received 20.13% and 6.21% of the votes respectively.

Bearing in mind these results, there exists a very real possibility that, for the first time since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship and following 20 uninterrupted years of centre-left governments, Chile will be governed by a coalition (made up of UDI, the Independent Democratic Union, and RN, National Renovation) considered centre-right.

The latest polls show that Piñera and Frei are in a dead heat, with a slight advantage for the opposition.

The Social Democrat candidate Ivo Josipovic, 52, won 32.4% of the votes in the first round of elections held on Dec. 27. In the second round, will face the mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandic, recently expelled from the Social Democratic Party, which won 14.8% of the ballots.

The election winner will replace the veteran reformer from the Stjepan Mesic, whose second five-year term ends in February. Both candidates support the national goal of entering the EU in 2012.